Rejuvenation in mid-2013

                               

Barsaati Baawre --- Mayank, Monika, Richa, Lavish, Abhinandan, Anubhuti, Aditi, Ashish, Mohit, Ankit, Archana and Parnika

"HONI KO KOI TAAL NAHI SAKTA" -- Everyone must have heard this age-old Hindi adage. This trip of KTJH will be remembered as perfect example of this saying.

The planning for this trip had started around 3 weeks back and the trip was initially planned for the Moodbidri belt comprising Moodbidri, Venur, Karkala and Dharamsthala. But then the Rain God came in between and washed away all our plans. Then the trip was decided for Gokarna, a famous beach and areas surrounding it. Again our Rain God played spoilsport. The closing of Gokarna beaches led many to believe that the trip would be cancelled. But then I reiterate, "HONI KO KOI TAAL NAHI SAKTA". After much dilly-dallying, the trip was now decided for Humcha and Shimoga.

We had to leave on Friday, the 21st of June, and till Thursday, many things were still not decided. But soon everything started falling in place and within next 12 hours, we were back on track.

Finally arrived the much coveted date of 21st June. People say it is the longest day of the year. I realized this fully as I waited for the night. The usual cycle of picking everyone on the way began around 10:30 p.m. Starting with me and Abhinandan Bhai, we were nine people when we reached Mayank Bhaiya's place. After picking the remaining 3 from there, the trip finally commenced at around 11:30 p.m.

It seemed everyone was tired after a week long tiring work in office as we all soon went to sleep. Darkness engulfed us as we all moved out of Bangalore but our inner selves were lightened up thinking of the extravaganza lying ahead of us in the coming 2 days. A near full moon guided us towards Shimoga.

Soon the dawn happened both for the trip as well as for Saturday. Our first stoppage was for the elephant park near Shimoga. A tusker named 'Sagar' amused everyone there. Few even became emotional(Hometown connect, you know).After this we reached the Tiger and Lion Sanctuary. We were before time. So, we had an excellent photoshoot outside as we waited for the park to open. The zoo, inside the sanctuary , was amazing. Peacock with full feathers open, hyenas, leapords, foxes and finally cobras were a delight to watch. Now the time was to get more 'wild'. The safari for the tiger and lion enclosures was superb. We saw a 'bathing tiger', a 'sleeping tiger', an 'old tiger' and a not so usual 'vegetarian tiger'. Maybe feeling the sentiments of all of us, the tiger showed us that even wild animals can become vegetarian. It ate leaves and grass right in front of us. How unnatural but how much profound. The lions were a busy lot. Actually there was one lion and two lionesses. So the lion could not find time to come to us as it was busy admiring the beauty of the two lionesses. Animals also have emotions, we couldn't blame the lion for such behaviour.

Next on route was Jog falls but due to some change in program, we decided to go to Humcha and then to Gokarna.

We reached Humcha around 12 at noon. Everyone spent excellent time there getting fresh, visiting the main temple, pooja of Padmavati mata and finally visit to Bhattarak ji. The food was not quite 'awesome' but then we have 'workarounds' for everything. In detail about that later.

Call it a divine intervention or some mysterious force working on deciding our route more aggressively than us that we found ourselves at a place Kollur in evening. We realized that the previous plan of going to Gokarna could not be accomplished now as it was very distant. Actually we had taken a lengthier route for Gokarna from Humcha.

We decide to go to Murugdeshwara but then again constraints came up. Finally the name of Udupi was brought forth and suddenly everything started falling in place. We could visit Udupi, Venur, Karkala, Moodbidri and Dharamsthala all in one day. Then we realized how this incorrect route had turned out to be the most correct one.

We reached Udupi around 9 p.m. and had a very nice dinner. Then all retreated towards their hotel rooms, had some 'gupshup' moments before finally retiring for the day.

Next day, Sunday, began quite early. 6 o'clock and we all were ready to explore the Udupi beach. For the first time in my life I visited a beach. Those waves, tides, water, sand... everything was so mesmerizing. Stand on a beach facing the sea and feel as if the waves are taking you along with them... Sheer ecstasy.

Add to all this the special performance given by one Barsaati Baawra(Samunder me nahake aur bhi namkeen ho gaye ho....) added spice to the flavour. The whole group had some wonderful photography moments and that 'KTJH in air' pose.

The breakfast comprising Bhel, tomato, cucumber and don't know what all combined with idlis and dosas was mouth-watering first and finger-licking later. What a delicious breakfast. The taste is still there in my mouth. The items may not be so tasty but the warmth and affection amongst all of us acted as the real 'spice' of breakfast.

Starting our journey from Udupi around 9:30 a.m., we visited Karkala, Moodbidri, Venur and Dharamsthala in order. Everywhere we felt like Mahamastakabhishek of Bahubali Bhagwan was going on as the rain had drenched the idols and all the big idols, half drenched in water, looked simply superb. Add to all this one more miracle. As soon as we used to get into van or a restaurant, rain used to start and when it was time to visit a temple, it used to stop. Can someone explain it?

We got free around 4:30 p.m. to come back to Bangalore. Thus started the ride back home. The Ghat journey, which we were fearing before, turned out to be the most exotic one. Clouds hung up in between mountains, small waterfalls and rivers in between and the ultimate scenic beauty of nature, I find myself unable to describe everything in words.

It was antakshari time for all of us. For the rest of the world, Antakshari starts with the letter 'M'. For KTJH, it starts with the song ' Sun raha hai naa tu, Ro raha/rahi hun mai'(:D :D) I am still laughing remembering all this. We covered everything right from Bollywood songs, TV serials like Kumkum, Kahani Ghar-Ghar ki to advertisements like Nirma washing powder and Vicco Toothpaste. No one realized the 8-hour long journey back home much.

To conclude, I would say that it was a complete package trip. We had fun, adventure, entertainment and besides that ,devotion and dharma. Whole credit goes to our hosts- Mayank Jain, Lavish Bagdia and Abhinandan Jain for making this trip such a successful one.

One and a half has passed and this journey of KTJH still continues. Time is changing and so do the faces in the group. Change is constant and sustains life but what should not change is the soul and the spirit of the group.

I wish this journey of KTJH continues in future just like it has in the past....


Ashish Jain